the zartan chair by philippe starck with eugeni quitllet is a new approach to industrial production in a post-plastic era.
at the magis booth on the milan fairgrounds, designboom spotted this from top to toe wholly natural chair, made of a sort of ‘liquid wood’.
the new technology uses wood powder (derived from discarded wood pulp-based lignin) which is mixed with a number of other
natural materials (fibers and wax or fish oil) to create a strong, non-toxic alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
under high-pressure conditions, the composite material behaves like melted plastic, allowing it to be injected through
a nozzle into a mold.

philippe starck, in an interview with designboom elaborates:
‘plastic is non-biodegradable and can contain carcinogens and other toxic substances that can cause cancer.
it is based on petroleum, a non-renewable resource that will soon be harder to come by.I imagine 5 types of different finishes for what you here just see in a raw version of the ‘zartan’ project: bamboo, flax, hemp, jute,
and rattan. this new technology explores the advantages of using natural materials to understand what will be our daily future.‘